One standard type of cassette utilized in chest X-ray photography employs a hinged housing which receives a sheet of X-ray film. The film is typically marketed in a package containing a stack of film sheets surrounded by a lighttight envelope formed of black plastic film. The cassette is typically loaded by opening the envelope and transferring one sheet into the cassette, all in a dark room. A mechanism which allowed the opening of the package and the dispensing of one sheet at a time into cassettes, all in a daylight environment, would facilitate the handling of X-ray film.